Muted Screams
by Wherever Girl
Summary: The gang meets a girl in trouble... only problem is, she won't speak. Will they be able to solve the mystery behind this character, despite she won't say a word?
1. An Errand's Detour

Old habits die hard… and this one is still living. In other words, I am starting a new fic despite I'm still in the middle of another one.

Well, no use in quitting now! Lets get on with it, shall we?

Summary: _The Mystery Inc. gang come across a girl in distress. Only mystery is that they don't know what's got her so shook up, and why… and it doesn't help that she's mute. How can they solve the case if she can't give them a clue?_

Also just to tell you ahead of time, knowing some of you might get the idea, this is NOT a Shaggy/OC or Freddy/OC fic. Or Daphne/OC or Velma/OC. …Or Scooby/OC (…it's best not to wonder…)

And the usual disclaimer that mentions I don't own the beloved cartoon characters… though if I did, I'd manage to keep the magic of the show alive rather than kill it like a certain latest spin-off.

Now… BEGIN!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_She ran as fast as she could, the sharp snarls growing louder behind her, jaws snapping at her heels._

_Tears were running down her face as she turned the corner, only to lead to a dead end._

_She fell to the ground, sobbing, watching as it came close…_

_All she could do was open her mouth to scream… but no sound came._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo walked down the sidewalk, carrying grocery bags full of food- from frozen pizzas to hamburgers to potato chips to sodas to candy bars to… et cetera. "Man, what a chore," Shaggy groaned. "It's like every month whenever our fridge gets empty, our grocery list gets longer."

"Reah, a rot ronger," Scooby agreed.

"Maybe we ought to go easy on the snacks, cut down on our eating a bit,"

The two friends looked at each other, then burst out laughing. "Rood one, Raggy."

"C'mon, ol' buddy, lets hurry home before we miss the movie, _The Scream From Nowhere," _

"Ris it scary?"

"Yeah… but it's all fake, like the bad guys in masks we face, remember? After all we've gone through in real life, it can't be THAT scary, right?"

"Rat's what rou said RAST time."

Shaggy rolled his eyes. "Last time was different. We were watching it in 3-D! Besides, what's so scary about a movie that involves screaming? We've done plenty of that, and I doubt there can be any scream to outmatch ours,"

"Respecially rack in Runior Righ…" Scooby had to hold back a snicker.

Shaggy gave him a look. "Cut it out! That was BEFORE my voice changed!"

"Rhat rabout what Red, Raphne, rand Relma rold us?"

Shaggy thought about it. Their friends HAD told them to avoid scary movies, after being tired of finding their friends scared out of their wits. "Ah, we'll just watch one horror movie, and if we get too scared, we'll vow to never watch a single one again."

"Refore or rafter we rask to rend the right with Red again?"

Shaggy sneered. "We're NOT going to end up sleeping over at Freddy's again, Scoob. …Besides, he changed the locks after last time."

"Whatever rou say…"

"Trust me, Scoob ol' buddy ol' pal, nothing's gonna scare US tonight,"

*Crash!*

Shaggy dropped his groceries and leaped into Scooby's arms. "ZOINKS! What was that?!"

"Rover there," Scooby whispered, and they peeked down an alley…

Where they saw a girl sitting in the corner, a dog standing in front of her, growling. "Hey, what's going on?"

The dog turned sharply, snarling at them. "Ruh roh," Scooby gulped.

"S-Something tells me this pooch ain't Lassie," They backed away as the dog approached. "Easy boy, nice dog… Scooby, you try reasoning with him,"

"Are rou ruts?!"

The dog barked just then, running after them, and the two friends dodged, going in different directions, the dog going after Shaggy. Scooby thought fast then looked at the groceries on the ground, seeing a package of bacon. He whistled and caught the dog's attention, waving the bacon in front of it. The dog panted, drooling at the sight, and took off after it when Scooby threw it across the street.

"Like, what a waste of perfectly good bacon," Shaggy sighed. "Oh well, better it than us, right?"

"Right," Scooby agreed.

They turned toward the girl once more, seeing she was still crouching in the corner, slowly standing up and using a dumpster for support. "So what was with the crazy hound?"

The girl didn't answer, only stared at them.

"Hey, it's alright, it's gone now. There was enough bacon to last it a while-" Shaggy paused. As they came closer, he noticed the girl was covered in bruises and scratches, some fresh, and it looked like the dog had gotten a few bites at her legs as well. "Zoinks, what did that dog do to you?"

She remained silent, legs wobbling.

"Are you going to be-"

She collapsed just then, falling into his arms.

"…okay?"

"What rappened?" Scooby gasped.

"I don't know, but that dog must've done a number on her," Shaggy looked over, seeing that the dog had finished the bacon. "Zoinks! And it looks like we'd better get our groceries and get out of here!"

Scooby gathered the food and followed Shaggy, who carried the girl, and they raced around the corner, ditching the dog. In just a couple minutes, their plans for the afternoon slightly changed…

And it was only going to get stranger.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: So, there you go. What will the others think of the girl? Will she ever speak? Why was the dog after her? What awaits the gang from this point on? And will Shaggy and Scooby still be able to catch the movie?

Please review. No flames or I'll smack you so hard, your grandchildren's nephew's best friend's crush's stalker will go crosseyed!


	2. We Have A Lot Of Cleaning Up To Do

Wow, this got a couple reviews pretty quick. On to the next chapter, then!

**Reviewer Thanks (already?)**

**Psychpineapplelover: **Ah, I'm just one of those people who grew up on the show and know the characters by heart ^-^; Glad to know I caught your attention this quick, and thank you!

**Scoobycool9 and Luckycool9: **With a little inspiration, I may start that one next ;) I'm happy to see I lived up to your expectation, especially since I've been meaning to work on the stories I have listed.

**HOLSTA2000: **Thank you, and brace yourself for what comes next ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby-Doo, and I'm surprised I didn't develop cancer mentioning it.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The Mystery Inc. gang had bought an apartment complex a while ago, with four separate rooms of their own. After all the years of traveling and solving mysteries together, and always calling upon one another to join in on a new trip, they had decided it would be easier to just live nearby each other, rather than living in different parts of the state like they used to before their adventure on Zombie Island.

Sure, they all knew they'd need their own space once in a while, but they also knew that- if in the event one of them was in need of help in any kind of situation- it would be nice to be nearby to be there for one another. From all that they had experienced in the past, it was more comfortable to have friends around, rather than having them live so far away.

Each member of the gang had customized their apartments to match their own style. Velma's had the latest high-tech equipment, with so many flash-drives, a computer, a laptop, and a few of her favorite novels, most if not all in the mystery genre; Freddy's, like the Mystery Machine, had a cool late-60's style, with a large television, chairs with no arms that curved in a near-crescent shape, and a range of posters of his favorite sports and movie stars, model sports cars, and a shelf full of framed baseball cards, action figures of athletes, work-out equipment, and several autographed souvenirs from all the famed athletes they helped out on their cases; and Daphne's room was full of every kind of stylish clothing, purses of every kind, shoes that took up so much space she had to install a shelf in her closet to keep them all, magazines about the latest celebrity gossip and fashion, and a wall of framed awards and medals from her karate competitions.

Shaggy and Scooby's apartment was a bit harder to describe… that is, if you looked past all the empty plates, pizza boxes, soda cans, glasses, bottles, wrappers, pots, pans, bowls, cartons, chip bags, and crumbs that took up most of the space. The most anyone could tell that, in addition to the large refrigerator in the kitchen, they kept a spare fridge in every other room (they even had a mini-fridge in the bathroom!), so it was an easy guess they loved to eat. Everything that didn't involve food included their comic-book collection, their favorite movies, autographed pictures of all their favorite celebrities (whom they helped out during a mystery), Shaggy's miniature golf equipment, Scooby's collection of rubber duckies, and videogames… all which were scattered around the room.

It wasn't until they walked through the door that the duo realized what a mess their place was. "Wow, maybe we should have cleaned up last week when Daphne told us… for the thousandth time." Shaggy commented.

"Reah, what a ress." Scooby agreed.

Shaggy took the girl over to the couch, moving away a few old soda bottles and a pizza box to give her room, grabbing a pillow and resting her head upon it. He then followed Scooby into the kitchen, helping him unload the groceries. "You finish unloading the groceries, buddy, while I call up the others."

"R'okay." Scooby started unloading the food… all the while 'sampling' most of it (put some food away, eat some food, put some away, eat some…)

Shaggy dialed up Freddy first, waiting a few seconds before he answered. "Hey, Fred, got a situation here," he said.

Freddy, who was running on a treadmill at the time, had him on speaker-phone. "What's up, Shag?" he asked, jogging all the while watching an action-movie on a plasma screen.

"Scoob and I just found this girl in an alley. She was being hounded by a dog- no pun intended- and she's in pretty bad shape. I was wondering if you and the others could come over and help us out with her."

"Sure, I'll call up the girls and we'll be right over,"

"Great! See you in a few minutes." Shaggy hung up and went over to the refrigerator, where Scooby had finished putting away the groceries. "Might as well whip something up while we wait. That girl might be hungry when she wakes up…" he opened the door, seeing that the shelves were nearly bare. "Huh! I could have sworn we bought more food than this…" He looked over, noticing Scooby sitting on the floor, his stomach having expanded in the past minute, and the teen shook his head. "Aw, man… Scooby Doo, what am I going to do with you?"

"*Burp* …Rexcuse me," Scooby said, covering his mouth.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The rest of the gang came over within the next ten minutes, and Shaggy and Scooby showed them the girl, who was still asleep. In the light, they noticed she had light skin covered in dirt, dust-brown hair, and her clothes were slightly ragged.

"Jeepers, look at her!" Daphne gasped. "The poor thing looks like she got attacked by a wild animal,"

"We figured it was that dog in the alley. It had her cornered… and it was no Beethoven." Shaggy explained.

"Any idea who she is?" Velma asked.

"No clue. She passed out before we could even ask."

"Maybe we could check her pockets, see if there's any ID on her," Freddy suggested.

"How about we wait for her to wake up and tell us, rather than be digging in her pockets like a bunch of thugs?" Daphne replied, crossing her arms. "It wouldn't be very comforting to come to and see a bunch of strangers pick-pocketing you."

Velma looked at the girl, examining her bruises. "Look how dark these bruises are… and there's no sign of any marks that would show a dog did it all," she pointed out. "And look at her face… what kind of dog could give someone a black-eye like that?"

"Rot me, rat's for sure." Scooby commented.

"We know you wouldn't do a thing like that, Scooby, especially to a young girl," Daphne said, scratching him behind the ear. She turned her attention back to the girl. "She's so small, too… like she hasn't eaten."

"From her length, I figure she stands at least five inches shorter than I do." Velma added. "Though her facial features and body figure help prove that she's roughly between the ages of 16 and 19."

"Lets get her to a doctor, and see if they can figure out-" Freddy began to say.

"Hold on, she's waking up!" Daphne whispered.

The girl stirred a bit, opening her eyes, her vision a bit blurry. When it cleared, she sat up quickly, backing into the corner of the couch, pulling her legs up to her chest and looking nervously at the gang, trembling a bit. "It's okay, these are some friends of ours," Shaggy said calmly to her.

The girl looked at them, looking at Shaggy, still shaking.

"Oh, right, you don't know us either… I'm Shaggy, this is Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Scooby Doo. What's your name?"

The girl said nothing, scooting back a little.

Daphne cleared her throat, sitting down beside her. "You don't have to be afraid, we're going to help you out. Can you tell us your name?" she said, kindly.

The girl stopped shaking a bit, pointing to her mouth and shaking her head.

"You can't speak?" Velma guessed.

The girl shook her head.

Freddy rubbed his chin, then rummaged through the mess in the living room until he found a piece of paper and a pen. "Here, you can write out your name for us." He said, handing them to the girl.

The girl scribbled on the paper, then held it up so the gang could read it: _Melanie._

"Okay, Melanie, can you tell us exactly what happened?" Daphne asked.

Melanie shook her head, then wrote: _I can't._

"Why not?" Freddy asked.

Melanie began to wince, shaking her head.

"Don't cry," Daphne said, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. "Tell you what- you can come over to my place and clean up, even take care of your injuries, then you can fill us in. C'mon,"

Daphne lead Melanie out of the room and to her apartment, Velma going with.

"Like, why didn't she just use our bathroom?" Shaggy questioned.

Freddy cleared his throat, opening the door, where the bathroom was as messy as the living room. "I think, while the girls are helping Melanie, you two could clean up a little." He suggested.

"Oh, c'mon! The place isn't THAT bad, is it?"

A rat scurried by, carrying a chicken-leg in its mouth.

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other, then grabbed a broom, dustpan, mop, bucket, rubber gloves, and hairnets. "Well… it could use a little tidying up…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

When Melanie was lead into Daphne's bathroom, she expected to see the usual toilet and shower- not a large Jacuzzi, a built-in salon, a cosmetics counter, and a mirror on every wall. "Geez, Daphne, did you open your own beauty salon?" Velma commented.

"Oh, no. My mom just told me all this stuff was taking up room in our bathroom back home, so I offered to bring it with me and have it installed, rather than hiring a carpenter again." Daphne replied. "In addition to having a way with fashion, I also have a way with recycling."

Melanie looked around as Daphne ran her a bath. She looked at herself in the mirror, staring for a while, until she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Your bath is ready," Velma told her, and she and Daphne began walking out. "Let us know if you need anything,"

The two girls sat down in the kitchen area, where Daphne poured a couple glasses of tea. "So, what do you think?" Daphne asked in a hushed tone. "You think she might have been mugged, or in an abusive relationship, or homeless?"

"Homeless doesn't seem like an option." Velma replied, pondering. "From what I could tell, her clothes used to be new, they were just torn recently. She might have been mugged, but half of her injuries looked like they were almost healed, so she's been roughed up before. I believe the second option is our conclusion- she's been abused." She began to pace. "Question is, by whom, and why? Unless she can write down the information for us, the answers are going to be hard to deduce."

"True… she didn't say where she came from, and wouldn't tell us what happened. Maybe she's just scared- I saw a TV show where a boy was being abused by his parents, but was too afraid to tell anyone in fear that his parents would kill him. (sigh) It was so sad, the ending made me cry…"

Velma held up her hand, shushing Daphne. "Listen."

Daphne paused. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly. No splashing, no running water… nothing." She stood up. "C'mon, we'd better check on Melanie."

They walked to the bathroom, finding that the door was still unlocked… and Melanie hadn't entered the tub, and was still fully clothed. "Is something wrong, Mel?" Daphne asked her.

Melanie rubbed her arm, shaking her head.

"Then how come you're not in the tub? You're free to use it, if you want."

Melanie arched an eyebrow, looking at the tub, then back at Daphne.

"Go ahead, we won't look." Daphne and Velma turned around.

A couple minutes later, they heard light splashing, and saw Melanie had gotten into the tub at last, slipping deep enough so her entire body was hidden by the bubbles.

"We'll leave you alone now, so you can have some priva-"

There was rushed splashing, and Melanie was frantically waving her hand 'no'.

"You… want us to stay?" Velma guessed.

Melanie slunk down a bit, as if embarrassed, and lightly nodded.

"Okay… Go ahead and close the curtains, and we'll sit right here by the door."

Melanie did so, and the other two girls sat quietly, wanting to talk about her behavior, but decided not to bring it up in front of her so not to offend her. _I wonder why she didn't want us to leave… _Daphne thought, curiously. _You'd think, since she'd just met us, she'd feel uncomfortable having a couple strangers in the bathroom with her._

_She's so nervous around us… why would she want us to stay? _Velma asked herself. _I wish she could give us some explanations._

Once Melanie was finished, she grabbed a towel off a rack and wrapped it around herself, opening the curtains. Daphne's eyes widened- not only was the tub's water murky, but it was like Melanie was a different person. Her hair, which she thought was brown, was actually a white-blonde color, her skin was pale, and her eyes were the brightest shade of blue. What was most appalling was how her bruises and scratches showed more clearly than they did before, and seemed to be all over her body.

"Jinkies," Velma gasped.

Daphne handed Melanie a robe. "Here, put this on. I'm going to give you my best treatment," she said, sitting Melanie down in a chair. "First, something to take care of those cuts and bruises…"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Shaggy and Scooby panted, stuffing the last garbage back into the dumpster (which was so full they had to sit on the lid to get it shut). "Like… we're finally done, ol' buddy…" Shaggy said, out of breath.

"Rinally…" Scooby wheezed.

"Maybe if you guys had cleaned up more often, it wouldn't have taken you four hours to clean up," Freddy said.

"You're one to talk… you just sat and watched TV the whole time!" Shaggy sneered.

Freddy shrugged. "Hey, I didn't make a mess… and I DID help you guys fend off that raccoon that was hiding in your bedroom,"

"And all this time I thought it was a stuffed animal with whipped cream smeared on its mouth."

"Well, at least your place is clean, now. Lets go see how the girls are doing with Melanie."

They walked down back into the building and down the hall, knocking on Daphne's door. "Come on in," Daphne called.

They stepped in, seeing Daphne was brushing Melanie's hair, the girl now wearing a purple T-shirt with a pair of matching jeans with a green belt, her arms covered in bandages and cover-up hiding her bruises. "What do you guys think?" Velma asked.

"Is that Melanie?" Shaggy gasped.

"Yep. You weren't kidding, Shaggy- someone really did a number on her, and it looks like she's been on the run for quite a while." Daphne said.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Freddy asked.

"We tried talking to her, but she wouldn't write out anything more than 'I can't tell you'." Velma replied with a sigh.

Melanie slouched a bit.

"We have to find a way to get her to tell us, somehow…" Freddy said quietly.

"Like, food might help." Shaggy suggested. "It always gets me talking,"

"Only when you're not stuffing your mouth full." Velma commented. "…Although you STILL talk then…"

"C'mon, Mel, you can have a snack at my place- it's clean now, AND rodent free." Shaggy lead Melanie across the hall back to his room, the others following.

"It's about time," Daphne whispered, making the others chuckle.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Well, that's all I'm giving you for this chapter, don't want to throw in too much in one sitting. Also give me your honest opinion about how I set up their apartments, just in case I added something that would make them sound OOC.

Please review. No flames or I'll dunk your head into a toilet full of gasoline, and then have you juggle flaming marshmallows.


	3. Our Antagonist Awaits

Alright, new chapter time!

**Reviewer Thanks**

**Fanatic97: **(You should have seen what I found… rofl)

**Scoobycool9 and Luckycool9: **Yep. And man, I should have thrown that in there somewhere! (Truth is, it's been so long that I didn't know that O.O). And yes, poor Mel.

Disclaimer: All I own is Melanie.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Melanie sat on the couch, legs tightly pulled up to her chest as she snuck a few glances at the gang, still nervous about her surroundings. Daphne and Freddy stood in the kitchen, while the others sat with her in front of the TV, waiting for the movie to come on. "I wouldn't doubt that she's been abused," Freddy said quietly. "No dog could beat her up like that, unless a gorilla helped out."

"I just wish she'd tell us what's going on," Daphne sighed, crossing her arms. "It was pretty puzzling the way she acted in my apartment. One minute she's too nervous to get into the tub, then the next minute she's wanting Velma and I to stick around… It's like she's debating on whether she can trust us or not, switching back and forth every second."

"Lets give her a couple days, give her some time to warm up to us. Now there's the matter of where she's going to stay,"

"I was thinking she could stay at my place. I let her use my bathroom and lent her some of my clothes, so she might as well."

Freddy shrugged. "I was thinking she could stay with me. I have a good alarm system, and happen to know a few self-defense moves."

Daphne gave him a look. "Uh-huh… and which one of us is a ninth-decree black-belt, won several championships, AND beat the other in karate class back in Junior High?"

Freddy blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay, okay, no need to get competitive. It was only a suggestion,"

"Why don't we let Melanie decide who she wants to stay with?" Velma suggested, walking in. "She should stay with whoever makes her feel the most comfortable, that way she'll calm down better and trust us a little more."

"That sounds like a better idea," Daphne agreed. "Lets ask her,"

They walked into the living room, where they saw something that startled them.

Shaggy and Scooby had lied out every kind of snack possible- popcorn, hot dogs, sodas, nachos, a bowl of candy, pizza, and chips- but they weren't eating a bite… because Melanie was practically stuffing her face first!

The gang could only watch, amazed as she grabbed a handful of popcorn, bit off half a hotdog, and chugged an entire soda. "Roly rud!" Scooby gasped.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked.

"You got me. All I said was 'Help yourself', and the girl started gorging herself!" Shaggy replied, reaching for a slice of pizza, but Melanie beat him to it. "Zoinks!"

"Gosh, guys… she's more hungrier than you are!" Freddy commented.

Melanie grabbed another soda, taking a large swig, when she noticed everyone was staring at her. Blushing, she put the soda down, grabbed a napkin, and wrote something on it, handing it to Shaggy.

"What's it say?" Velma asked.

"'Sorry, I was just hungry.'" Shaggy replied, then shrugged. "Hey, good enough excuse for me,"

"The rovie's starting!" Scooby exclaimed, and everyone sat down to watch it, eating the snacks Melanie had left for them.

Melanie tensed a bit as she watched the movie. The lights were off and the sun had gone down, the TV casting the only light in the room. She looked around at all the others, then looked at the screen, wondering which she should pay more attention to. As the movie went on, she started paying attention to it, becoming intrigued.

The movie, _The Scream From Nowhere, _was a slasher-film about a psycho who killed and hid the evidence so quick, no one could find out where it happened or who the victim was, until it was too late. Halfway through the movie, Melanie began to relax a little, watching as a couple teenagers in the movie were investigating an old apartment where they thought the killer could be hiding, slowly entering a dark room, when suddenly-

"Ratchoo!"

Melanie gave a jolt, quickly grabbing on to Shaggy's arm, squeezing it tight. "Ow! Hey, calm down, Mel! It's just a movie," he told her, then turned to Scooby. "Gave her quite a shock there, ol' buddy."

"Yeah… all the while sneezing into my soda," Velma commented, setting her soda aside and grabbing a new one.

"Rorry," Scooby apologized, wiping his nose.

Melanie continued to tremble, and Shaggy patted her on the back. "It's alright, Melanie. Here, have some more snacks, that'll help calm you down." Shaggy said, holding up a bowl of chips. She took some and eased back, continuing to watch the movie.

0o0o0o0o0o0

By the time it was over, it was late, and the others started to head out. "Would you like to stay with one of us, Mela-" Daphne began to ask, but paused.

Melanie had fallen asleep on the couch, curled up tight.

"I think she's going to crash here for the night," Shaggy replied, showing the gang out while Scooby draped a blanket over Melanie. "Thanks for the help, guys."

"No problem. If there's any trouble, let us know." Freddy said.

"Fred, if there IS any trouble, you'll know it before we have to tell you,"

The gang walked out and Shaggy locked the door, while Scooby cleaned up the last of the snacks… via eating them. The two friends both looked at the girl, seeing that- even in her sleep- she seemed tense and nervous. _Like wow, first she's hungrier than we are, now it looks like she's more afraid than we are. _He thought, surprised. _If she were taller, or a dog, it would be like she was related to one of us… _

They looked at her more, seeing the bandages on her arms and the cover up that was starting to fade, revealing her bruises. "One of us should sleep out here with her, just to keep guard." Shaggy whispered.

"R'I'll ro rit," Scooby volunteered, giving a salute.

"You'll do it? Alright. Wake me if anything happens," Shaggy then walked into his bedroom, while Scooby lied down beside the couch.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Elsewhere…_

The dog walked down the street, turning down the street onto a dirt road, heading toward a large house with an iron fence surrounding it. The dog, whom we should mention was a cross between a Rottweiler and a Pitbull, with black-brown-and-gray fur, slipped through the iron bars that were wide enough for it to get through, heading up to the house.

"Where is the girl?" A raspy voice asked, coming from the shadows beneath a tree.

The dog snorted, shaking its head.

"You lost her?! Go back and find her," the figure held up a scrunchy, having the dog sniff it. "Memorize her scent. Don't come back until you've found her!"

The dog sniffed the scrunchy, then took off back down the road, while the figure vanished.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Who was the mysterious figure? What do they want with Melanie? What will happen if the dog finds her? Stay tuned.

Please review. No flames or I'll stuff you into one of my socks and throw you into a pool… full of gravy, surrounded by wolves.


	4. A Moment of Fear

Now for a new chapter.

Readers: Joyness! :D

**Reviewer Thank-Yous And Such**

**Fanatic97: **Easy, my friend, it's only the 4th chapter, questions will be answered soon; Do you take explosive-requests? Because I know a certain witch named Bellatrix who's been causing trouble XD (Seriously, though, thank God you're with the heroes)

**NarniaCrazyGirls: **Yes, it has been a while; I knew that, but I prefer to let others tell me what they think (reviewing your own stories is what the author's-notes are for lol).

**Psychpineapplelover (aka Robyn): **Yep, our villain has entered… but no idea if Shaggy and Scooby will be willing to face them just yet- unless they have the right motivation ;)

**Scoobycool9 and Luckycool9: **Who doesn't?; And yes, she's getting there; If anyone does, they're either very daring… or stupid enough to get a live badger down the pants.

Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby-Doo… and every time I have to say that, a ninja steals a child's muffin.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was a nightmare that haunted her for years.

_She was a little girl, about the age of five, walking alone down the hallway towards her parent's room, hearing shouting that had disturbed her sleep. Her parents were fighting again. "I don't see why you keep blaming me, I'm not the one causing all this trouble!" her father was yelling._

"_Well, it's not MY fault! I keep trying to make things work and keep our marriage stable, but you keep messing everything up!" her mother argued. "I keep the house clean, you come and throw your stuff everywhere; I try to sign us up for counseling, you don't show up-"_

"_I don't need some stranger to tell us how to handle our relationship. We can fix it ourselves!"_

"_Nothing is getting fixed! The more I try, the more you tear us apart…"_

_Her father stood there silently, watching as her mother began to shed tears. "Well… if you believe I'm such a home-wrecker… I suppose I'll just leave."_

_The image shifted, and suddenly she was standing in the living room, watching a movie about ghosts, when her mother turned off the television. "Sweetie, I don't want you watching that stuff. It'll give you nightmares."_

"_It doesn't scare me, mommy." She told her mother, her expression unreadable- like how it always was when she watched television. "I like it."_

"_Still… Come into the hall, there's someone I'd like you to meet…"_

_She walked into the hallway… and the image shifted, showing her running down the hallway, a dark figure in pursuit, barking ringing in her ears until she reached a dead-end, and she turned around in time to see a set of jaws snapping at her-_

Someone was shaking her, and her eyes shot open.

And it was the perfect time to scream… if she could.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Shaggy was lying comfortably in bed, having a dream about discovering a 40-foot burger that he was seconds from sinking his teeth into…

*CRASH!*

His dream came to a halt as he was jolted awake. "Zoinks! What was that?!" he yelped, gripping his blankets as his green-and-burgundy striped nightcap stuck up to match his fright. Grabbing his golf-club and a teddy-bear, he shakily got out of bed and peeked around the corner. "Scooby-Doo… is that you?"

"Raggy," Scooby called, waving him into the room.

Shaggy looked in, seeing Melanie ducking behind a chair, a broken lamp next to her. "Whoa, what happened?" he asked, walking over to her.

"She was raving a rightmare," Scooby answered. "Ri woke her up, rand she rumped off rhe rouch rand rot across rhe room, rocking over a ramp rand rucking rehind rhe chair."

Shaggy turned to Melanie. "Like, it's okay, Mel. It was only a bad dream, nothing to be scared of,"

Melanie only sat there, shaking.

"Would you feel better if you slept in my bed? I have a pretty good alarm-system- I always set it up after I watch a scary movie, just to make sure no monsters try to get in." He took her hand and showed her to his room. "Watch the wire… and those skates… and don't open the closet… and careful not to touch the Dynomutt DVD collection, Scooby rigged that one good."

She lied down in the bed, and he turned away.

"I'll go clean up the broken lamp, and I'll be right back in." he then walked out, grabbing a broom and dustpan, while Scooby grabbed the vacuum to get the pieces too small to see. "Wouldn't you know it- we spend the whole afternoon cleaning, and suddenly we have a new mess to pick up."

"At reast we ridn't reave it rying around ris time," Scooby pointed out.

"Well, yeah. It wouldn't be good to wake up in the morning and walk on broken glass." He dumped the broken lamp into the garbage, then walked back to their room. "C'mon, ol' buddy, lets get some sleep,"

He walked into the room… accidentally tripping over the wire, which caused a boot to swing down from the ceiling and kick him in the face, knocking him back onto a skateboard that slid across the room, and hurled him out the window!

*Boing! Thud!*

Melanie sat up, alarmed and looking out the window, wondering if he was alright.

A few seconds later, Shaggy walked through the apartment door, a bit dazed. "Like… it's a good thing someone was throwing out an old mattress…" he said, stumbling into the room, more cautious about where he was stepping, and climbed into bed. "Alright, lets get some sleep, before anything ELSE happens."

Moments later, Melanie turned and snuggled close to him, holding him tightly. Shaggy looked at Scooby, who shrugged in confusion. _Guess that nightmare really shook her up, _he thought, putting his arm around her and going to sleep.

Scooby smiled at the sight, lying down in his own bed… but still felt a bit confused.

Namely because, when he woke up Melanie, she appeared to be afraid of him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: As I've mentioned before, this is NOT a ShaggyxOC story (I just felt like throwing in a fluff-moment, that's it). And quite some irony at the end, wasn't there?

Please review. No flames or I'll throw YOU out a window after kicking you in the face… and I promise there'll be no mattress waiting for you.


	5. A Trip To The Hospital

Got a spare moment, so here's a new chapter. Also, if none of you have read the other story I'm working on, 'Middle School Mayhem', I'm only doing weekly updates for the time being.

**Reviewer Thanks**

**RomanianPrincess: **Please contain your excitement, if possible :)

**Fanatic97: **Nah, I'm saving that old cliché for a different story, but good guess though; Make sure Stephanie Meyer never writes another book while you're at it!

**Psychpineapplelover: **Not just yet (trying to keep the plot at an even pace, so they're in luck lol); Gotta love the classic comedy, yep; Thank you and here you go

**Scoobycool9 and Luckycool9: **One clue down, several to go; Yep; Nice.

Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby-Doo… AND IT BURNS MY SOUL TO SAY IT!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The gang took Melanie to the hospital the next morning to get her examined and make sure she didn't get any rabies from the dog, let alone get something for her bruises and scratches, and even find out if there were any records there about her.

Velma waited in the examination room with Melanie, while the rest of the gang sat in the waiting room. "I hope she's doing okay," Daphne sighed. "You think the doctors may know her?"

"Well, she lives around here, so maybe." Freddy said, then rubbed his chin. "On the other hand… I've never seen her around town before."

"She must have just moved here, but if that's the case why… do you keep holding your ribs like that, Shaggy?"

Shaggy had his arms around his ribcage, massaging it. "Like, sorry Daph. Mel hung onto me the whole night, and she has one heck of a grip," he answered, moaning a bit. "I don't know what got her so freaked out, but I sure hope it doesn't happen again."

"What scared her?" Freddy asked.

"A nightmare, I think. Scooby woke her up and she panicked, hiding behind a chair."

"Wait, where IS Scooby?" Daphne asked, seeing that their canine companion was absent.

"Probably looking for the vending machine. I'll go find him," Shaggy then stood up and walked down the hall, searching for Scooby.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Scooby, as Shaggy predicted, did happen to be by a vending machine, sticking a dollar in it and waiting for a candy-bar. Unfortunately, it got stuck, much to the Great Dane's aggravation. He smacked the machine a couple times, but the candy didn't move. He tried pounding on it, yet it remained stuck. He then growled and started shaking the machine rapidly!

Zilch.

Pouting, Scooby began walking away. A little girl, at least five, walked over and gave the machine a small kick, and the candy bar dropped out. She took it and skipped away, and Scooby's jaw hit the floor. Smacking his forehead, the canine grumbled and walked back towards the waiting room.

He paused halfway down, when he noticed Melanie and Velma sitting in one of the rooms, a doctor standing with them. "It appears your friend is in worse shape than you thought, Velma." He was telling them, setting up some x-ray photographs.

"What do you mean, Doctor Carlos?" Velma questioned.

"Well, from what our x-rays show, she seems to have a case of the rickets, and her ankle-bone seemed as if it might have shattered at any moment, and from what I can tell here her left arm has been broken recently and has just finished healing. …I've seen many cases like this before, but not as bad like Melanie's, and I have to say it's a miracle she's still up and walking."

Scooby sat by the door, cocking his head at all the doctor was saying, feeling worse for Melanie.

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Velma asked.

"Make sure she gets lots of nutrition, and a large dose of Vitamin D at least three times a day. Bring her in next week for a checkup, too, just so we can see how well her body is healing." Doctor Carlos answered, handing Velma a prescription. "Also pick up some painkillers on the way out, it'll help with those sore spots."

"Alright. Thank you,"

They walked out, and when Melanie saw Scooby standing by the door she gave a jolt, stumbling back and bumping into a nurse carrying some clean towels. "Oof! What in the world…?" The nurse gasped.

Velma ran out and grabbed Melanie's shoulders. "It's alright, Melanie," she turned to the nurse. "Sorry, she's still kind of recovering from shock." They began walking back down the hall. "Calm down, Melanie, everything is okay. What's the matter?"

Melanie kept looking at Scooby, who looked around, confused. "What?" he asked.

Velma looked at Melanie's expression, then back at Scooby. "Melanie, are you… afraid of dogs?"

Melanie bit her bottom lip, but nodded. Scooby lowered his head, whimpering a bit.

Velma patted her on the back. "You don't have to worry, Mel. Scooby won't hurt you like that other dog did. He's actually helping us take care of you,"

"Reah, reah" Scooby said with a grin, nodding his head enthusiastically.

Melanie only tensed a bit, still uneasy.

"C'mon. We'd better get back to the others," Velma said, and they walked down the hall.

Scooby followed, his heart feeling a bit broken.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Well that's all for this chapter. I know it's a bit short, but I promise longer ones in the future. Poor Scooby, though. Will Melanie ever warm up to him? How did her fear of dogs come to be, anyway? And what is our antagonist up to during all this?

Please review. No flames or I'll stuff a horde of angry rabid monkeys down your shirt.


	6. There's Something About Melanie

Okay, time for a quick update.

Special thanks to Fanatic97 for lending me some inspiring ideas :D

**Reviewer Thanks**

**James Birdsong: **Thank you :)

**Fanatic97: **Interesting theory, if it were true she'd be dead :P

**Scoobycool9 and Luckycool9: **Glad you liked it, and I do believe he hopes so.

Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby-Doo, only Melanie.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Later that day, Daphne decided to take Melanie shopping at the mall. Velma was back at the apartments looking over Melanie's medical records, and Scooby, Shaggy, and Freddy were driving around the block where the duo had found Melanie, hoping to find some other clue.

"This is where we found her," Shaggy said as they parked the van and walked down the alley.

"I'll go search around the other side," Freddy told them, walking off.

"Raggy, rook," Scooby said, having sniffed and found a bag that was lying beside a dumpster, looking as if it had been torn.

"It must be Melanie's," Shaggy picked up the bag and they looked inside, surprised at what they found. "Like, check it out, Scooby…" he took out a necklace with a large gold key hooked to it. "She must have some fashion sense. I wonder what this key might go to?"

Scooby looked deeper, pulling out a small black square with a blinking light on the side. "What's ris?"

Shaggy took a look at it. "I don't know. Maybe Velma can figure it out. Lets go get Fred and head back,"

Tucking everything back into the bag, they walked around the corner, finding Freddy. "You guys find anything?" Freddy asked.

"Yeah, this bag. Melanie must have dropped it when that dog…"

There was snarling and barking just then, and they looked over… seeing the vicious dog was running straight for them!

"…a-a-attacked! Zoinks!"

"Hurry, to the Mystery Machine!" Freddy cried, and they ran to the van, the dog hot in pursuit.

They dove into the van and locked all the doors, and the dog slammed into it, snarling and barking. "Floor it, Fred!"

Without hesitation, Freddy sped off, the dog chasing after them, being stopped when they ran a red-light, the traffic blocking its way.

"Whew! We made it…" Freddy sighed.

"Rank roodness…" Scooby said, slumping down, his heart still racing.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Daphne and Melanie walked out of the mall, carrying sacks and sacks of new clothes. "Now that we've got you some new clothes, we can get started on your next look. I know a great salon in town we can go to," Daphne told her. "You want to check it out?"

Melanie only shrugged… all the while wondering why they'd need to go to a salon, if Daphne's entire bathroom was like a beauty-shop itself.

Daphne looked at her watch. "We'll head there tomorrow. It's getting pretty late, and we're going to head to dinner with the gang-"

Before she could say another word, three goons leaped out in front of them, knocking their bags out of their hands. "Hey, pretty girls… feel like having a wild night with one of us?" one of them, a 14-year-old who dressed like Neo from the matrix with sunglasses, said with a malicious grin.

"Yeah, you two babes look like you're a lot of fun," Another, a 17-year-old wearing all-black and having a shaved head, said as he grabbed Daphne's shoulder.

"Back off, creeps!" Daphne snapped, flipping the one that grabbed her over her shoulder, slamming him onto the pavement.

"Yikes, someone's playing hard to get," The third one, a 15-year-old wearing a jean-jacket and black jeans, said teasingly.

"The ones that play hard to get are normally the easy ones," the 14-year-old said, and grabbed Melanie, caressing her thigh. "Bet you are, aren't ya?"

*BAM!*

Melanie punched the sunglasses right off the creep, then flipped him over and slammed him onto the other. "Hey!" The 15-year-old snapped, running toward her-

*POW!*

She swung a kick, knocking him in the jaw, then swung a low-kick and knocked his legs out from beneath him. The other two creeps stood up and lunged at her, but she grabbed one by the jacket and swung him into the other, bashing their heads together.

"Lets get out of here!" The 17-year-old shouted, and they took off.

Daphne stared at Melanie, surprised. "Melanie… that was amazing! I didn't know you knew self-defense!" she exclaimed.

Melanie only sank to her knees, gathering her bags, and Daphne noticed tears coming out of her eyes.

"Melanie… what's wrong? It's okay, you totally beat those guys! …Melanie?"

Melanie said nothing, being lost in her thoughts…

_She cried hard on her bed, trembling as if still feeling one hand caress her while the other hand gripped her tightly so she couldn't escape…_

She gasped when a hand grabbed her shoulder and she jerked away, turning and seeing it was only Daphne, who gave her a surprised look. "Are you alright…?" she asked, whispering.

Melanie bit her bottom lip, shaking her head.

Daphne helped her gather the bags, and they stood up. "C'mon… lets get back to the others,"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Velma stared at the files, completely shocked as she read them over once more. She looked out the window and saw the Mystery Machine pull up, and she walked down to meet up with the guys. "Did you guys find anything?" she asked.

"Yeah, a bag that belongs to Melanie," Shaggy said, still trembling. "All the while having a rendezvous with that killer-canine!"

"We managed to lose it though at a red-light…" Freddy added.

Velma's eyes widened. "Jinkies! Did you hit someone?" she gasped.

"No… why?"

Velma pointed to the car door… where there was a huge dent. "It looks like someone ran into you,"

Freddy nearly had a heart-attack. "GAH! Oh, c'mon! I just got the van waxed!"

"That's where the dog hit when he slammed into the van," Shaggy pointed out. "But, like, how could a dog make a dent that big? It was hardly Scooby's size!"

"It must've been running pretty fast…" Velma said, rubbing her chin. "C'mon, lets go upstairs… there's something I found out," They walked up to Velma's complex… after pulling Freddy away from the van… and she showed them the file. "It turns out Melanie had paid a visit to the hospital about three years ago. Her step-father, it says, had assaulted her, ending up throwing her down a flight of stairs. The doctors said the shock caused her to lose her ability to speak and she had to attend therapy at least twice a week,"

"You think the step-dad is behind those crazy dog attacks?" Freddy asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I thought about looking up her parents, but her surname was smudged," Velma adjusted her glasses, suspiciously. "…which baffles me, considering hospitals normally keep their records neat, and from the way it's smeared, I doubt it was accidental."

"Lets ask Melanie, then." Shaggy suggested. "If she can tell us who her parents are, we can find them…"

"I don't think it'll be that easy, Shaggy. Melanie's still pretty tense around us. Lets wait until she's a little more comfortable,"

"At this rate, she'll probably be with us for a whole year before she says any-" Freddy began to comment.

Velma shot him a look. "Don't you have a van to worry about?"

He shut his mouth. "Never mind."

Daphne and Melanie walked in just then, and Velma put away the file. "You won't believe what just happened to us!" Daphne exclaimed. "These creeps tried jumping us in the parking lot, and Melanie practically creamed them!"

Melanie blushed a bit.

"Zoinks! Are you serious?" Shaggy gasped. "If I'd known that, I wouldn't have worried about setting up our alarm-system, Scoob."

"C'mon, lets head out to dinner," Velma said. "You can tell us more later,"

"Sure… Oh, by the way, Mel, we found this in the alley," Shaggy held up the bag. Melanie gasped happily and grabbed it, hugging it to her chest and reaching in, pulling out the necklace and wrapping it around her neck. "Like, you're welcome."

"You can leave the bag here if you want, too." Freddy told her. "Right now, lets go get something to eat,"

"That's the best idea I've heard all day,"

They walked out, and Velma couldn't help but ponder. _Daphne said she took on three goons… so why is she afraid of that dog? And how did it cause so much damage to the van? _She wondered.

0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: So a little more of Melanie's past is revealed, but will Velma's questions be answered? Also one of the muggers (the 14-year-old) is Fanatic's OC, Hater (thank you for letting me throw him in).

Please review. Flame, and I'll run you over with a jet-powered steam-roller… (looks at computer) As soon as I can win the bid on it on ebay!


	7. An Unexpected Visit

Sheesh, guys, sorry for not updating but… life got busy. But I haven't given up on this story! Came close, but my insanity kicked in and knocked some sense into me! (Have fun making sense out of that XD)

Without further hesitation, here's the next chapter!

**Reviewer Thanks (for those of you who have been so patient)**

**Book girl fan: **Yay, new reviewer!; Yeah, I doubt anyone would like a scene like that; Couldn't help but include some fluff; And you shall get your answers in time. Glad you like the story so far!

**Steve, Scoobycool9 and Luckycool9: **Never watched Zoey 101, so no; The black box is really… something that's coming up; Yes you should.

**Fanatic97: **(That steamroller is MINE, mister!); Is it, Fanatic? IS IT?; Have fun torturing your OC!

Disclaimer: Still don't own Scooby-Doo… dagnabbit.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The gang sat down at their usual booth at the Malt Shop, ordering some burgers, fries, and sodas, all the while talking about their past mysteries with Melanie, deciding to stay off the dog-attack matter for the time being. "…And that's when we discovered the crew had been hypnotized into believing they were ghost pirates, with Biff Wellington as their captain." Daphne finished, after they told her about their adventure in the Bermuda Triangle.

"And that's also when I decided I'm never taking a cruise out to sea ever again," Shaggy added, not paying attention to Scooby, who was sucking his soda down… up until Shaggy cut the straw he was using.

Melanie scribbled something on a notebook Velma had given her to communicate with, handing it to Daphne. "You guys must have a lot of fun on your trips," she read out loud.

"You better believe it," Freddy replied.

"If you count getting scared half to death almost every year fun," Shaggy scoffed.

"Have you've ever gone on any trips, Melanie?" Velma asked.

Melanie thought about it, then wrote: "Once, with my parents. We went to the Caribbean Islands on a cruise when I was 6. My dad took me everywhere while my mom preferred to lounge around on deck, and he showed me all the sights and took me to nice restaurants. It was the last time we got to do anything together, before they got divorced."

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" Daphne gasped after reading.

Melanie wrote more: "My mother just didn't love my father anymore, and she got full custody of me." As she wrote this, she winced a bit. "I really miss my dad."

"Do you know where he lives?" Velma asked.

"No." Melanie scribbled, sighing.

"Maybe we could find out for you," Freddy suggested. "If you can give us his last name, we could track him down and arrange a way for you two to meet."

She didn't write anything- she couldn't, namely because she hugged Freddy after he mentioned the idea. She paused, pulling away as she blushed, then wrote: "That sounds great, thank you."

Freddy blushed a bit too. "Heh heh, you're welcome," he looked at the gang, all of them smiling at the idea as well.

0o0o0o0o0o0

After dinner, they headed back to the apartment, this time Melanie decided to stay with Daphne. "I'm going to take the Mystery Machine down to the shop," Freddy said, dropping them off. "I'll be back later,"

"I still don't know how one dog could cause so much damage," Velma commented as they walked upstairs.

"Maybe it's robotic, like that K-9 model you made that won us a trip to Japan," Daphne suggested.

"Like, I hope not. I'm starting to get an allergy to metal mutts," Shaggy whimpered.

"Reah, me roo." Scooby added.

Melanie rubbed her arm, a bit nervous. "Oh, don't worry, Melanie." Daphne said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure that dog is nowhere near us."

They walked upstairs and Velma opened the door to her complex, turning on the lights. "JINKIES!" she shrieked, alarming the others.

Her entire apartment was trashed. Monitors were smashed, some furniture was shredded, a few cords were snapped, and Melanie's bag was ripped to pieces. "Leave it to Daphne to jinx us," Shaggy gulped, his hair sticking out in fright.

Velma surveyed the damage, finding the small black square on the floor, picking it up and seeing the blinking red light, a label on it reading _Marvin Ingenuity Inc_. "It appears someone placed a tracking device on Melanie… and whoever it was decided to pay a hostile visit." She said, bitterly. "But how did they got in is the question, since the windows aren't smashed and the door was locked,"

"We'd better call Freddy, and find a different place to stay," Daphne said, looking around nervously. "Whoever broke in might come back later."

Scooby was now cowering in Shaggy's arms, both friends trembling in fright. "Rood ridea," Scooby agreed.

"I think we should stay, in case they DO come back," Velma replied.

"B-Bad idea…" Shaggy stammered.

"If we leave, how would we be sure they'd leave us alone, and why did they go to such lengths to find Melanie?" Velma turned to Melanie. "…Unless you could give us some answers-" she paused, seeing Melanie was no longer there! "…Melanie? Where'd she go?"

"Melanie! Where are you?" Daphne called, looking down the hall. "The poor thing must have ran off in fright,"

"I don't blame her, I was just about to do the same thing!" Shaggy put in.

"Start looking for her. Whoever's tracking her might still be in the building!" Velma ordered, and she and Daphne went down one hallway.

"…Like, that's what I'm afraid of," Shaggy and Scooby then began walking down the other hallway, Scooby sniffing along.

"Ro you rink Relanie is ralright?" Scooby asked as they walked.

"I sure hope so. I can really feel for her, you know- always hungry, too scared to speak, all beat up… all because of some mangy-mutt in need of anger management."

"Reah, poor Relanie…"

"It really sets me off, too. What did Melanie ever do to that dog? It's probably just a brutal canine, wanting to pick on everyone like some bully. Probably doesn't even let its owner pet him!"

"What a risgrace," Scooby huffed.

"Yeah, it really is a disgrace- to all dogs everywhere! Chasing after girls, putting dents in vans, making hard-working individuals like ourselves surrender our groceries just to get around the block… If you ask me, that dog ought to be unleashed into the wild where it belongs. It's mean, it's merciless, it's psycho-"

"Rand rugly,"

"Oh yeah, definitely ugly. It's even uglier than that monster we saw in Mexico! Worse than the abominable snowman, even! …Heck, if the Miner Forty-Niner and the Swamp Witch had a child, it still wouldn't be as ugly as that dog!"

"Ree hee hee hee! Rat's true, rit would reven scare the Robling Ring!"

"Yeah, it would probably scare the zombies back to life! It makes the Loch Ness Monster look like a newt!"

The two friends laughed, falling to the ground. "Rit makes the wolfman rook like a ruppy!"

Shaggy chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye, sighing. "Man, what were we so scared of? It's just some dog… we've got nothing to be afraid of! Why, if it were here now, I'd wrestle it down and tie a muzzle around its mouth!"

"Reah, me roo!"

There was snarling just then, and the two friends turned, seeing that the dog had been behind them the whole time!

"Scoob ol' buddy ol' pal?" Shaggy said, calmly.

"Res, Raggy?" Scooby replied, casually.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

The two cowards shot down the hall, leaving clouds of dust behind, and the dog snarled and pursued.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Where did Melanie go? Will Scooby and Shaggy be alright? Who's after Melanie? Will Freddy get the van fixed? And where the heck is that pizza I ordered?! All these questioned (besides the last one) will be answered! …Eventually.

Please review. No flames or I'll give you a pizza… With live scorpions on it!


	8. One Crazy Chase Scene

Alright guys, before life kicks my feet out from under me again, here's a new chapter!

**Reviewer Thanks and Muffins**

**Scoobycool9, Luckycool9, and Steve: **Yes; Gotta love the classics XD; I always thought they were related, since the newer ones would give cameos of the old monsters, but I see your point. I just like to make refs :P

**Fanatic97: **Lol what happened to the step-dad theory? XD Good guess, anyway. We shall find out soon.

**Book Girl Fan: **I always like to acknowledge my readers ^-^; Very true; Lol gotta love that gag, huh?

Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby-Doo… and now my heart just sto- *thud*

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"YEEEEEOOOOOWWWWW!" Scooby and Shaggy screamed as they shot down the hall, the manic dog still in pursuit, snapping at their heels. They came to an intersection, and Shaggy ran left while Scooby ran right, neither of them noticing they had separated.

The dog ran after Shaggy, chasing him toward the stairs. "Like, run for your lives! It's Bingo's deranged brother!" he shouted to several people he passed, suddenly tripping and tumbling down!

The dog snarled, then ran into an open elevator, going down.

Shaggy, in the meantime, fell over stair after stair down through every floor, until he reached bottom, seeing stars. "Ouch… well, at least I lost that-" he began to say, until the elevator doors opened and the dog stepped out. "DOG!"

The dog snarled and snapped, and Shaggy shot off down the hall, the dog still in pursuit, running into the garage.

Freddy, in the meantime, had pulled up minutes prior after having the van repaired, and was polishing the hood of it. "Well, that dent is finally out," he said, patting the door as he started putting things away. "Don't worry, bud, I'll take better care of you this time. Nothing's going to slam into you again—"

*WHAM!*

Shaggy slammed into the side, leaving a lanky human-shaped dent in it. "Oh COME ON!" Freddy threw the polishing rag down in frustration.

Shaggy, however, pried himself from the van and leaped through the window. "Like, don't just stand there, Freddy! We gotta get out of here!" he shouted, pulling Freddy in.

"Whoa, take it easy, Shag! What's the big deal?!"

"THAT!" Shaggy pointed into the rearview mirror…

Where Fred saw the dog was quickly approaching! (Note: Objects in mirrors may be closer than they appear).

"Holy- where'd that come from?!" Freddy gasped.

Shaggy was already buckling up and revving up the engine. "Hang on!" he cried, putting it in drive.

"Wait, who said you could-" Shaggy had hit the accelerator, flooring it. "DRIIIIIIVE!"

*Crash!*

They shot through the garage door, the dog after them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Scooby, in the meantime, ran around a corner, leaning against the wall and taking long, deep breaths. Seeing that the vicious dog was no longer behind him, he let out a sigh of relief… then noticed Shaggy wasn't with him. "Raggy? Ruh-roh…" he gasped, then began searching for his friend, sniffing around.

"You listen to me, you little bitch, and you listen good!" came a raspy, cruel-toned voice, and Scooby ducked inside a closet, seeing a figure with a long coat, black hat, wearing a black mask… and gripping Melanie by both her arms, tightly. "You're going to come back with me, and tell me where that key is… otherwise I'll have my hound rip off your arms and legs, do you hear me?! And you better not have told those other teens anything, otherwise your dear old father will pay the same price!"

Melanie tried pulling away, but the figure had a good hold on her.

"Do not try to resist, you snotty whore! You know my strength matches yours… You cannot stop me, and there's no one to help you now-" Melanie, in response, kicked them in the shin, making them cry out in pain, and she tried to run, but the figure grabbed her by the hair and yanked her onto her back, pulling out a knife. "You're going to regret that, you-!"

Seeing enough, Scooby began barking and ran at the figure, biting their sleeve and pulling them away from Melanie. "Ret her ro!" he snarled, not letting go.

"I hear something down here! This way!" came Velma's voice from around the corner.

"Ack! Let me go, you stupid mutt!" The figure tore away, something falling from their pocket, and leaped out a window to get away.

Daphne and Velma arrived, just in time to see the figure make a break for it. "What happened? Who was that?!" Daphne demanded, while Melanie was scribbling like crazy.

Velma, in the meantime, found what the figure had dropped- and old watch with the initials HB on the back, the numbers in roman numerals with a picture of a castle in the middle. "Whoever it was dropped this," she said, holding it up.

Melanie handed Daphne her note: "Almost got kidnapped, dog was sent to keep you away, Scooby saved my life," it read.

"Way to go, Scooby!" Daphne praised, rubbing the Great Dane on the back.

"Do you know who tried to kidnap you?" Velma asked her.

Melanie wrote: "I don't know, their voice was raspy and their face was covered by a black mask. They wore a long coat and wide-rimmed hat, if that helps,"

"Long coat and hat with a mask, huh? How more cliché can you get?" Daphne commented.

"Lets go find the guys… and see if we can track down the owner of this watch," Velma said.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Meanwhile with the guys… they were driving like maniacs down the road (courtesy of Shaggy's driving), swerving around traffic, knocking over stands at the side of the road, nearly running over pedestrians…

And the crazy dog was STILL after them!

"How fast can that dog run?!" Freddy questioned, looking out the window, seeing the dog was at the bumper.

"I'm not pulling over to ask!" Shaggy cried, his hands practically glued to the steering wheel and his foot stuck on the accelerator.

"Look out!"

They drove through the mall's doorway, up an escalator and through a chain of shops, driving out with a few mannequins dragging along behind them, attached to some scarves, and a woman's XL dress was on the windshield, obscuring their view. "I'M BLINDED BY PINK!" Shaggy shouted, trying to use the windshield wipers to get rid of the dress.

*Crash!*

They got rid of the dress then. "Whew…" Shaggy looked around at the blue sky. "Wow, we must be going pretty fast. I can't even feel the road beneath us!"

Freddy looked out the window, and he turned pale. "That's because… it's not." He said, his eye twitching.

Shaggy looked, seeing that they had driven off the roof of the mall somehow, and were heading right over the edge of the pier! "ZOINKS! ABANDON CAR!"

They climbed out of the car, landing on the pier, while the Mystery Machine sank in the water.

Freddy gave Shaggy a dark, _dark_ glare. "Heh heh… well, at least it's not as bad as the time we got chased by the Lock Ness Monster, right?" Shaggy chuckled, nervously.

Freddy kept glaring.

Shaggy gulped. "I'll, uh, go call a tow-truck," With that, he shot off.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Short chapter, I know, but I wanted to throw in some more hilarity mostly.

Please review. No flames or I'll make Shaggy your personal chauffer… After seeing HIS driving, you'd better take caution.

Shaggy: HEY!


	9. Suspects and Secrets

Hellooooo readers! Here's a new chapter- proof that I'm still up and kicking! *kick*

(OW!)

…sorry, grandpa!

**Reviewers HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**

**Robot Wolf 26Z: **Glad you like, and yes, Shaggy's driving DOES get insane XD (wise choice lol)

**Scoobygirl101: **Aside from the cussing and slight violence, that's what I'm aiming for :)

**Fanatic97: **Lol lol lol lol (x1000); At least we still have the sharks with the lasers attached to their heads. Glad you're still liking the story.

**Scoobycool9, Luckycool9, and Steve: **I believe every fan knows it, lol; Yep, chalk up another crowning moment for Scooby Doo ^-^; Perhaps…; Probably, or it was smart enough NOT to leap off the roof; Yes, run Shaggy, run; Thank you for pointing that out (darn grammar check wasn't working).

Disclaimer: BOO!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Meanwhile back with the girls and Scooby, they were sitting in Daphne's room, all the while informing their doorman of the disturbance, making sure he'd keep watch for any suspicious characters. "Alright, Melanie, I know you probably don't trust us too much, but the time has come to tell us everything." Velma said, firmly yet calmly. "We need to know who might be after you, why there's a dog always chasing you, and why."

Melanie only sighed, wincing.

"You have to tell us, Melanie… otherwise we might not be able to help you. You can trust us," Daphne assured her.

Melanie scribbled something quickly onto a sheet of paper, handing it to Velma: _The last person I trusted is the one who's after me now. You are all very friendly, but I don't want to take any chances and end up in a worse position. It's bad enough they're threatening my dad, I don't want any more trouble on my hands._

Velma shook her head. "If you don't tell us anything, nothing's going to get solved." She said, losing her patience. "We're not like that dog or maniac after you, Melanie! We want to HELP you! You have to understand that there ARE people in this world who won't harm you!"

"Yeah, Melanie. We're the most trustworthy people you can meet, just ask anyone. As long as you stick with us, nothing dangerous will happen-"

The door opened just then and Freddy and Shaggy stepped in… both soaking wet, and Shaggy's shirt seemed to have been yanked over his head. "For the last time, I'm SORRY!" Shaggy was griping. "I didn't MEAN to drive the Mystery Machine off the mall's rooftop and over the pier!"

Daphne cringed, looking back at Melanie. "Uh… Most of the time…"

"Jinkies! What happened?!" Velma asked.

"That crazy dog came after us and chased us across town." Freddy replied, still giving Shaggy a dark glare. "We lost it after SOMEONE sunk the van!"

"We got it towed out, didn't we?!" Shaggy snapped.

"Yeah, after it became an aquarium and drenched us as soon as we opened the doors, not to mention the REST of the damage from your driving-"

"GUYS! You can argue about the car later!" Daphne snapped. "We've still got a situation at hand, remember?! Melanie was almost kidnapped!"

"Like, by who?" Shaggy gasped.

"That's what we're still trying to find out, but Melanie won't tell us anything," Velma said. "The only thing we found was this watch with the initials 'HB' on it."

"Looks expensive…" Freddy noted, examining the watch. "It has a label engraved at the bottom, too: 'R.B. Jewelers'."

"I know that store! That's where my dad gets my mother's anniversary gifts," Daphne exclaimed.

"C'mon, lets go down to it and see if they know the owner of this watch. Shaggy, Scooby, you guys can stay here with Melanie, make sure that creep doesn't come by," With that, they began walking out… though Freddy walked back in. "…And if they do, DON'T try driving away."

"Geez, let it GO, Fred!" Shaggy sneered. Once the others were gone, they sat down on the couch, turning on the TV. "So, you were almost kidnapped, huh? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Melanie wrote: _"No, Scooby saved me just in time." _She then patted Scooby on the head.

"R'aw, it was rothing," Scooby said, smiling.

"Way to go, Scoob! Sheesh, too bad you weren't there when that manic mutt came after Freddy and me- hopefully it leaped off the roof too, heh heh." Shaggy joked, then began to rub his chin. "But, what I don't get is how it could keep up with us, let alone run so fast."

Melanie slouched a bit, not writing a word.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Freddy, Velma, and Daphne arrived at the jewelers. The store was like any other shop, with different kinds of diamonds, rubies, gems, and jewelry behind glass cases, and behind one counter were two elderly men. "Oh, hello, kids! I'm Joey and this is Kenny- what can we do you for?" the first man, Joey, asked.

"We're wondering if you know who owns this watch," Velma asked, showing them the watch.

Kenny eyed the watch, rubbing his chin, then did strange gestures- waving his arms, patting the back of his head, and raising his knee up while hopping on one foot… which confused the others a great deal.

"Of course I remember him, Kenny!" Joey chuckled, then noticed the strange looks from the others. "Oh, Kenny burned his tongue a while back, and can only communicate with odd gestures- it's a secret language we had while we were kids."

"What did he say?" Daphne asked.

"Oh, he says the owner of this watch was a man named Mister Hans Barbire, (pronounced bar-ber-ray… most people pronounce it wrong). He used to bring this watch in once in a while to get cleaned or wound-up, but stopped coming in a few weeks ago… said he couldn't afford it because he was in debt and wanted to pawn it off- but we told him to keep it and we'd keep taking care of it for him, no charge."

Kenny was tugging his ears, then poked his nose.

Joey gave him a glare. "Now don't you mention that! It's none of our business to tell others about Mister Barbire's personal affairs,"

The others looked at each other. "Would you guys happen to know if Mister Barbire had a daughter?" Daphne asked.

Kenny began making an armpit-farting motion… and Joey gasped, slapping his hand over his mouth (though, since he wasn't talking, the action seemed unnecessary). "Sorry, kids! Can't say we have!" he said quickly. "Oh, look at the clock! Closing time already!" he then ushered them out. "Nice meeting you! Goodbye, now! Come again soon!" he then closed the door, the blinds, and put a 'Closed' sign in the window.

"That was odd…" Freddy said, arching an eyebrow. "What was that rush all about?"

"I'm thinking those two know more than they want to let on," Velma replied, suspiciously. "I think we ought to look up this Mister Barbire if we want some decent answers,"

That thought in mind, they walked off… not noticing a pair of eyes watching them from behind the blinds.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Shaggy had zonked out on the couch, a bag of chips hooked in one arm while the other arm hung over the edge, allowing his hand to dig into a bowl of popcorn. Scooby was in the process of sliding the snacks away, taking the chips and sneaking off…

Noticing Melanie was asleep in a chair, her hand in a box of cookies. Scooby licked his lips and slid the cookie box away from her, deciding to pour some into his paw, getting a total of five cookies and one hand, which he began to-

ONE HAND?

"Ripe!" Scooby gasped, dropping the finger… seeing it was just a synthetic glove. "Ruh? What's ris?" he held it up, looking over at Melanie…

Seeing a bionic cast around her hand, which seemed to lead up to her arm!

To make matters worse, Melanie was waking up, and once she noticed that Scooby had her glove, she let out the loudest gasp he had ever heard, and swiped it up, slipping it back on, then scribbled hastily: _please don't tell please don't tell please don't tell!_

"What… ras rat?" Scooby gulped.

Melanie began to write… but Shaggy woke up, and she quickly crumbled up the note. "Oh, man, did I fall asleep?" Shaggy gasped. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"

Scooby opened his mouth to reply, but paused, seeing the worried expression on Melanie's face. "Uh… ro."

"Whew, what a relief. It's not like me to fall asleep with some weirdo running loose," Shaggy stood up, scratching his back. "Must've gotten less sleep than I thought. Well, c'mon, guys, lets head back to our apartment and find something to eat. Daphne doesn't have much here,"

Melanie followed them out, giving Scooby a look… all the while wondering if she could trust them enough, now that Scooby saw what she was hiding.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: What was with the cast around Melanie's arm? What were the jewelers hiding? Will we ever get some decent answers?

Also, the names of the jewelers (plus their store) is a reference to Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who also worked with (and created) Scooby-Doo in the early days.

Please review. No flames or I'll b-word slap you to the other end of the galaxy!


	10. Questions and Answers, More or Less

HOLY MINI MUFFINS! I am SO sorry for the long wait peoples! But my schedule got hectic and I didn't have much time to become inspired. BUT, luckily, an idea was buried deep within the back of my mind and I managed to uproot it, finally giving me a chance to update at last! …That, and I'm on vacation :D

So, read on and enjoy!

**Reviewer Thanks And Cookies**

**Fanatic97 and Optimus: **Darn transformers, always hacking into your accounts lol; No idea what that is… and from everyone's statements, I don't think I do; Glad you enjoyed it nonetheless ^-^

**Book girl fan: **Hey, you've got plenty of time to catch up, since I'm behind in my updates, so no harm done; Hope your holidays went well, mine is almost over with; Glad to hear it, hope it stays that way :)

**Robot Wolf 26Z: **Thank you; I'd have to agree as well lol.

**Steve, Scoobycool9 and Luckycool9: **More like a bionic cast, but answers shall come; Nah, it's been done; Happy (late) Halloween to you too!

Disclaimer: My vacation is going well, I'm not saying anything that could ruin it!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Fred, Daphne, and Velma looked up Hans Barbire's address in the phone book and drove down the street in search for his home. Velma kept looking through Melanie's files, but found nothing more than records of her having a broken arm and being sexually abused… though she decided not to reveal that last part to the gang for Melanie's private sake. The more she looked at the file, the more baffled she became, the same questions running through her mind: What was the hospital hiding? If Melanie knew great self-defense, why was she still running? Who was trying to kidnap her, and why? How could that dog be so determined on attacking them? And why hadn't Melanie had any contact with her father?

_There must be answers somewhere… If her dad doesn't tell us anything, my head just might explode! _She thought, growing slightly irritated, but kept calm so to keep her mind clear and focused on the mystery.

"Well, here it is," Freddy announced as they pulled up the road, coming up to a large manor with a brick wall surrounding the property, a large iron gate with the initials HB crafted on the front. "Wow, this guy knows how to live,"

They pulled up to a speaker-box, pushing the buzzer. "Yes?" came a voice.

"Hi, we're here to see Mr. Barbwire-"

"_Bar-ber-ray_," Daphne corrected.

"May I ask who this is, and do you have a scheduled audience?" the voice asked.

The teens looked at each other. "Um… this is Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, and Velma Dinkley… and no." Freddy answered, awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot let you in if you do not have invitation. Good day."

"But it's about his daughter!" Daphne called.

There was a pause, and for a moment they thought the person didn't hear, until they finally replied, "…Daughter?"

"Yes, Melanie… we found her a couple days ago." Velma added.

There was silence, and then the gates opened. "Proceed."

Freddy drove up the driveway, which curved around a small circular garden/island, stopping in front of two large front doors where a man wearing a tuxedo stood. He had graying brown hair, a mustache, and bright blue eyes, and kept a stoic expression. "Please, follow me." He said, and his voice matched the one on the speaker-box.

They followed him into a large room with checkered-tile marble floor, burgundy-cushioned golden-frame furniture, a large black wooden coffee table that sat between a large chair and couch, and a marble-white fireplace with a red-and-black Persian-styled rug sitting on the front. "This is a lovely home you have," Daphne replied.

"Yes, it makes my job worthwhile, aside from the cleaning." The man answered.

"Oh, you're the butler?"

"Indeed. Unfortunately, Mr. Barbire is not present, yet if you have an urgent message about his daughter, you're more than welcome to stay… that is, if his ex-wife permits it."

"His ex-wife lives here?" Freddy questioned. "…Must be a lot of conflict. Good thing the property is so big,"

"Not big enough, in his opinion. Mr. and Mrs. Barbire divorced years ago, and his wife took almost all of his money to pay for child-support, eventually forcing him into debt. In order to keep from losing his home, his wife took ownership of half of the estate… though as time went by, she took it all."

"That doesn't sound like a mutual agreement," Velma said, grimacing. "How could she take custody of everything he owns?"

"Her lawyer had a way with dealing with divorces… actually, he was the one who gave them reason to split up. Mrs. Barbire had an affair with him during a cruise the family took twelve years back. With his help, she got everything- his money, his home, and full custody of Melanie- apparently she wanted to break him, keep him in her control."

"Did she happen to have a dog?" Daphne inquired.

"I'm afraid not. She had a terrible allergy to dogs- one reason why she made Mr. Barbire get rid of Sugar, Melanie's beloved puppy."

"I thought Melanie was afraid of dogs- one actually tried attacking her,"

"…as well as ruined my van." Freddy muttered.

The butler walked over to some pictures that sat on the mantelpiece. "She wouldn't be afraid of Sugar. They were practically inseparable when she was five, before the wife's allergies kicked in." he picked up a picture of Melanie holding a small blonde-and-white collie-puppy. "On the day they both had to have surgery, Sugar's being the most successful… however, Melanie wasn't recovering well, her condition critical. Her father thought she wasn't going to make it, and brought Sugar in so Melanie could at least have her best friend at her side one last time. Miraculously, the night after he dropped the puppy off, Melanie recovered fully."

"What did she have to have surgery for?" Velma asked.

"It was… more of a classified experiment. Mr. Barbire was working on an invention that could enhance bone structure and mending, which would revolutionize the healing process. He tried it first on prison inmates- which failed- then tried it on wounded animals, which proved more successful. However, after the divorce, he lost money for his funding… the last test he used was for Melanie, when—"

"When her step-father threw her down the stairs and broke her arm,"

"Not just one arm- both arms and legs. Everyone at the hospital said she would be permanently disabled… but her father wasn't going to give up, and tried the experiment on her. …It was the last time he got to see her."

"What, exactly, was the experiment?"

"I told you, it's classified- Mr. Barbire told no one about it, only his wife and daughter knew, though he kept most of the information between him and his daughter. Many people wanted their hands on his creation- ex-wife definitely- and have been after it for years."

Daphne rubbed her chin. "And Melanie is the only other one who knows?" she asked.

"Yes… and might I ask where, exactly, Melanie is?"

"She's with one of our friends… we were planning on bringing her here-" Freddy began.

"No!" The butler's outburst startled them, and he cleared his throat. "I'm afraid… Melanie is not allowed to come anywhere near her father's estate until she's 18. If she were to be caught here, Mr. Barbire would be in violation of the custody-order and would most likely face ten years in prison."

"That's not how divorce works!" Freddy scoffed.

"…The way her new husband works, that's probably what would happen."

"What would happen?" came a voice, and the teens looked over, seeing a woman with short, dark-brown hair that curved outward at the bottom, wore horn-bill glasses, a red suit-dress, matching knee-high boots, and wore an expression that obviously said 'Don't Piss Me Off'. "Who are you kids?"

"We're… friends of Melanie's." Daphne answered.

"Don't be ridiculous. Melanie has no friends. She's been home-schooled by private tutors, had no contact with any kids, and absolutely no socialization on the internet. How do you know her? Where is she?"

"She… was attacked by a dog, and she's been staying with us-"

"I demand you bring her to my estate, Lane 302, North Drive. Immediately!"

"Whoa, calm down ma'am!" Freddy spoke up. "First of all, who are-"

"I'm Melanie's mother. I've been looking for her for the past week and a half. I've already called the police to look for her, and I advise you bring her home before you're run in for kidnapping!"

"We didn't kidnap-" Daphne began to protest.

"Why didn't you bring her with you in the first place, then?"

"Pardon US, Mrs. Barbire, but Melanie was just brutally attacked by a dog, and some maniac has been after her! We've been trying to keep her safe for the past two days, that involves letting her stay behind while we try to find out who's after her and why! I propose you let us consult Melanie rather than forcing her to go home, let alone make sure her health is at a decent status before taking her anywhere, as well as waiting until that vicious dog and the maniac controlling it are behind bars!" Velma snapped.

Daphne and Freddy could only stare. They never saw Velma act so boldly before, especially after a first encounter with a person.

"Do you have any idea who you are speaking to, young lady?!" Mrs. Barbire said, appalled.

"I SHOULD be speaking to Melanie's father," Velma retorted.

The woman started to seethe. "Bring Melanie home. If she is not there by 5 o'clock tonight, I will send the police over to retrieve her! …And just so you know, my new husband happens to be a fine lawyer,"

"No so fine if he can't even make a good compromise," The butler muttered.

"WHAT was that?!"

"Nothing, Madame."

"We'll show ourselves out, thank you." Daphne said, and the teens left, Mrs. Barbire walking with them to the doorway to make sure they left, while the butler watched from the window.

"Now THAT meeting had suspect written all over it," Freddy spoke up. "What do you think, girls?"

"That woman did sound like she wanted Melanie back, badly… and that butler knew quite a bit, as well." Velma said, scratching the side of her face. "But there's still some things that don't add up. Mrs. Barbire is allergic to dogs, and the butler claimed he didn't know anything about the experiment…"

"That leaves the step-dad," Daphne added. "…By the way, Velma, what was with that sudden act of aggression back there?"

Velma shrugged. "Well, she obviously wasn't showing us any hospitality, and she kept talking about Melanie as if she were some object, and… well it just got on my nerves."

"I'd kind of like to find out more about that 'experiment' he was telling us about." Freddy spoke up. "Whoever's after Melanie has to be after it,"

"Agreed… and if we want to get any more information, it means we've got to get her talking,"

"…Or writing, in her case," Daphne joked.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Back at Shaggy and Scooby's apartment, Melanie stood on the balcony, looking down at a park across the street. Scooby walked out with her, while Shaggy prepared dinner. Silence was all that came between them, both the Great Dane and girl nervous after what had happened that afternoon. After almost five minutes, Melanie finally wrote him a message: _'Can you keep a secret?'_

He nodded.

Melanie sighed, then continued. _'When I was little, my stepdad broke my arms and legs, and everyone thought I would never walk or do anything again. My dad, though, took me in and put a special casting on my arms and legs- almost like electronic gloves, but with a synthetic cover so it looks like I'm not even wearing a cast. They help speed up bone reconstruction and enhance agility and muscle. I had to wear them for only three months, and my dad told me to keep them safe… but someone found out I had them, so I had to run away, keeping them on. I had taken them off after Daphne took me to her apartment and hid them in my dirty-clothes- I put them back on after she, Fred and Velma left two hours ago, while Shaggy was asleep.'_

"What all ro they ro?" Scooby asked.

'_Mostly help with broken bones and enhance muscle and agility, like I said. It was mostly just an experiment, but my dad insisted on using it on my surgery to help me. Turns out, it increased my strength and flexibility, that's how I managed to beat up those punks who tried to jump Daphne and I… Problem is, the creep after me got ahold of them and tested it on that dog, and trained it to attack me unless I gave them the key to the room where my dad keeps all his blueprints, specifically for this device.'_

"Who's rafter rou?"

Melanie winced, but sighed. _'They already know who you are, so I might as well say. The person after me is-'_

"Dinner's ready!" Shaggy called, and Melanie quickly crumbled up the note. "So what were you guys talking about out here?"

Melanie gave Scooby a glance, and the Great Dane shrugged. "Rot much," he answered, deciding not to reveal Melanie's secret.

"Go ahead and sit down, I'll bring the food out," he looked at Melanie. "I hope you like Cajun cooking,"

Melanie sat down, then wrote to Scooby, _'I'll tell you once everyone gets here,' _

Scooby nodded.

Shaggy brought out bowls of gumbo, setting them on the table. "Man, am I hungry. After the near-death experience today, this should hit the-" he began.

*Knock knock!*

He sighed. "Always when we're eating. Must be the gang, hold on," he walked over to the door. "Hey, who are-"

*BANG!*

Scooby yelped, Melanie jumped, and Shaggy screamed, running into the kitchen, holding his shoulder… pulling out a dart, his vision growing dark. There was growling, and the dog ran in, going after Melanie…

But Scooby ran in front of it, growling. The dog didn't hesitate and lunged, biting his neck and throwing him against the wall, while a masked figure knocked out Melanie. "Make sure they don't find us," they rasped, then took off, the dog running out with them.

Scooby came to, shaking his head. "Relanie!" he cried, looking around, whimpering when he realized she was gone, nothing left behind but her notepad.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Sorry if I revealed a little too much of Melanie's secret, but quite an unexpected touch of suspense? Will Melanie be alright? Can the others track her down? Where is her father? Who's after her, the mother, the step-dad, the jewelers, or old man smithers?! When will this mystery be solved?!

…ah, just review and we'll find out later. Flame, though, and you can guarantee you'll be dropped off- from the top of my hotel's building.


	11. The Mystery Begins To Unravel

Geez luiz, people! Sorry for the- ah heck, I've been busy as heck since summer, so there's no need to apologize for keeping my readers waiting so long for a new chapter, right? GOOD GRAVY! *ducks turkey* …I stand corrected.

Ah well. Here's a new chapter, and Happy Thanksgiving!

**Reviewer Thanks, Turkey, Potatoes, Gravy, Corn, and Pumpkin Pie**

**Fanatic97: **You oughtta set up some sort of security to keep the Transformers off your computer, lol; Yes, the mother is vicious; Oh, and Tempus… *drops Mt. Rushmore on Tempus* …Happy Thanksgiving ^-^

**Scoobycool9, Luckycool9, JJ, and Steve: **Well, Velma deserves her crowning moments too ^-^; He'll find out the secret soon, too; Your hunches may be right; Sorry I haven't been able to review your stories lately; And no, I was just staying at one while on vacation.

**Robot Wolf 26Z: **I couldn't resist throwing the gag in as much as you lol; Yep, that's what I was aiming for- a character everyone loves to hate; Lol your OC sounds interesting, but we all have our own troubles with updates, so he can kindly shut it.

**Book Girl Fan: **Oh, don't worry about my threats too much, I accept some constructive criticism (it's the flames that get to me), so I appreciate how you pointed out that Shaggy didn't have too big a role, which actually helped inspire this next chapter- thank you :)

Disclaimer: All original Scooby-Doo characters belong to Hanna-Barbara, and I only own the other made-up characters. …It's a mystery why I have to keep repeating it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_She was five years old, walking along the deck of the ship, a small collie-puppy at her side. She remembered the puppy well- Sugar, her best friend and the only one who kept her from feeling lonely at the mansion. Her father had gotten the puppy for her birthday, deciding she needed a companion- despite her mother's protests of how much she disapproved having an animal in the house._

_Her mother disapproved of almost everything her daughter loved… even her father._

_She was walking to their cabin now, having forgotten her sunhat, seeing that the door was slightly opened, and she heard voices…_

"_Just leave him. You said it yourself you don't love him anymore," came a man's voice._

"_I want to, but there's a problem, involving custody of Melanie." Her mother's voice replied. "I'm not one to share my child in a divorce, and it would be difficult for Melanie to live with a different parent every other week or whenever… not to mention how I'd disapprove of that man raising her alone, especially if I get half of everything he owns- he'd never be able to take care of her properly."_

"_We'll fix that…"_

_Her mother sneezed just then. "Ugh, damn allergies…"_

_She never knew what they were talking about until her parents finally divorced, her mother being granted full custody… that is, until her new 'husband' started getting rough with Melanie when she was eleven. There was a side of him that her mother never saw, how he wanted her daughter for himself. When Melanie fought back, he threw her down the stairs, rendering her unable to move, and he ran down, running his hands down her body…_

_That's when Sugar attacked, now full-grown… and quite strong, biting his shoulder and wrestling him down. His own dog came running in to defend its master, but Sugar fought it off too._

"_What is going on here?!" Her mother cried out, entering the room. "Melanie! What happened?! Are you okay?"_

"_Sugar went berserk and pushed her down the stairs, trying to maul her. I tried to pull her off but she attacked me, and that's when Rex ran in." The step-dad lied._

_Melanie was frantically shaking her head, trying to say anything… but the shock rendered her speechless._

_They took her to the hospital, where they were told she would never be able to use her arms or legs again… and it was the first time in years she saw her father again. "There's something else we can do. Bring Melanie to the lab," he said._

_Months later, she was walking again… running at a greater pace, feeling stronger than she had ever felt before. "Melanie, this will be the only time we'll see each other, so please listen closely," her father said, then handed her a key. "Those casts you wore are part of a classified experiment, one that could change medical history. There's some bad people out there who would do anything to get their hands on it, so I need you to do me a favor and keep the key to my lab- I won't be using it for a while. Keep it hidden somewhere safe, and don't tell anyone about this, okay?"_

"_Hans, come quick! There's been a break-in!" a colleague of her father's called. "One of the blue-prints is missing!"_

_Melanie found those missing blueprints later… in her step-father's room. Quickly and quietly, she stole them and mailed them back to the University her father worked at, before that man could do anything with them._

_Unfortunately, he already had…_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"_Shaggy? …Shaggy! Wake up!"_

"Huh…?" Shaggy said, groggily, his vision focusing from a blur. Once it cleared, he saw the distraught faces of Freddy, Daphne, Velma, and Scooby… but Melanie was gone. "Zoinks! Melanie! Where is she?!"

"They rook her away…" Scooby whimpered.

"Who took her away?!"

"We have a pretty good guess," Daphne said, firmly. "And I think this 'mystery' just turned into a witness protection case,"

"Apparently, Melanie knew about- and was even part of- an experiment," Velma said, holding up Melanie's notebook. "Scooby said she was explaining everything in here before she was kidnapped. Her father invented a robotic-synthetic cast that could rapidly heal broken bone structures, and she was told to keep it secret."

"Yeah, except someone else knows about it, and knows that if they have Melanie, they'll have access to the blueprints," Freddy added. "And right now, we're going to track them down and get Melanie back,"

"Do you know who-" Shaggy began to ask, rubbing his shoulder where the dart hit him… and felt a small chain around his neck that he hadn't noticed before. "What's this?" he dug in his shirt, and pulled out the key that Melanie had been wearing.

"Rat must be the rey to the rab," Scooby guessed.

"There's a piece of paper wrapped around it," Shaggy unrolled the small paper off the key, which read:

"_You're the one I trust most… please keep this safe for me."_

"She left the key for Shaggy," Daphne said, a sound of sweetness yet sorrow in her voice.

"…she trusts him the most?" Freddy questioned. "Then how come she never told him anything?"

"We'll ask questions later. Right now, we have to find Melanie!" Velma ordered.

Shaggy gripped the key tightly, his expression serious. "What are we standing around for? Lets move!" he declared, and they ran out the door, piling into the Mystery Machine.

"C'mon, lets go to the Jewelers- they might give us some answers on where Melanie could be," Daphne suggested.

When they got there, however, the store was still closed, not a person in sight… but there were paw-prints. Scooby sniffed them, growling as he recognized the scent, and began following them. "Scooby's on to something," Velma said, and they followed the Great Dane, seeing that the paw-prints led to a set of tire-tracks, which Scooby began to follow next.

Shaggy walked with Scooby, while the others followed in the Mystery Machine, until they came near an old warehouse… where they saw Joey and Kenny standing in front of a masked figure. "Nothing doing, pal. You paid us to keep quiet about the girl, we're not going to get involved in kidnapping," Joey sneered, while Kenny tugged a strand of his hair while standing on one foot.

"If you don't get the girl, you're going to regret it," The masked figure rasped.

Freddy looked up, seeing a stack of crates and an old net. He whispered a plan to the others, and they snuck behind the crates, grabbing the net and standing high above the masked figure. "Get ready…" he whispered.

"I don't like the idea of it at all. It's bad enough Melanie's in trouble, we don't want to get her into any deeper shit," Joey snapped.

"She's already in deep, and if you don't do as I say, she'll die!" the figure snarled.

"NOW!" Freddy ordered, and they threw the net over the figure, pinning him to the ground. "Alright, you sicko, lets see how well you chase after girls with demonic dogs behind bars!"

"What are you TALKING about?!"

"Don't play dumb- you've been after Melanie for years, trying to get secrets out of her!" Daphne sneered.

"You knew Hans Barbire had given her the key, and knew that as long as she was in your possession, you'd have access to the blueprints to the experiments," Velma added. "With it, you could become the most famous man in medical history,"

"You idiotic kids, I don't need the key, I've already got the blueprints!" The masked figure snapped. "But that's not why I'm after Melanie!"

"Then why ARE you after her?!" Shaggy demanded.

He yanked off the mask… and to everyone's surprise, it was the butler. "Because I'm her DAD, you fools!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: …Surprising, yet awkward. What will happen from here? We shall soon find out.

Please review, I accept constructive criticism… but one flame, and I'll sick my kitty on you!

Kitty: Reow! *pulls out chainsaw*

…Yeah. She's cranky when her nap is disturbed.


	12. Another Chase Scene & Lots of Unmasking

SUH-WEET mini-muffins with a side of beef! Sorry for the long wait! Here's the new chapter!

Special thanks to Fanatic97 for sending me some ideas and reigniting my inspiration ^-^

**Reviewer Thanks**

**Fanatic97, Tiger, and Tempus: **Meow; Glad you liked the chapter; Oh, and Tempus… *eats missile, which asplodes in stomach* Thanks for the meal.

**Robot Wolf 26Z: **Very well, she needs someone to practice on; Glad you liked the plot-twist!

**Damonika2009: **Thank you, glad you're enjoying it :)

**Scoobycool9, Luckycool9, and Steve: **Yeah… better start reviewing near a couch or pile of plush toys; Oh, there's more behind the butler story, don't worry; Yep, I've got one heck of a cat.

**Book girl fan: **Don't worry, things will be cleared up soon; You're welcome ^-^

Disclaimer: I don't own Scooby-Doo, and now I need therapy…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The gang could only gawk in confusion. "HUH?" they all said together.

"How… could you be her dad?" Daphne asked. "You said you were the butler!"

"I'm confused…" Shaggy said, rubbing his head.

"Rou and me roth," Scooby added.

Hans Barbire sighed. "I know, I have a lot of explaining to do…" he said… then to the gang's further shock, pulled off a mask, revealing his bright blonde hair and fair skin, looking more similar to Melanie. "You see, my wife took a great sum of my money, and it wasn't long before I was in debt. In order to prevent myself from going broke- or worse, having to give her access to my lab as payment- I made a deal with her to be her servant. She agreed, as long as I wore this disguise and never told Melanie who I truly was… I only took it off on the day that dreaded lawyer rendered her disabled, and took her in and used one of my inventions on her- synthetic casts that could help heal broken bones and enhance muscles."

"She wrote about it in her notebook," Velma told him, handing him the notebook. "Apparently, she was planning on telling us before she was kidnapped,"

"Kidnapped? Who took her?!"

"We don't know, they wore a mask… but they had that crazy dog with them!" Shaggy gulped.

"This is terrible… I gave Melanie the key to my lab! I told her to keep it hidden, as well as the casts… if whoever kidnapped her found them-"

"She gave me the key," Shaggy held it up.

Hans looked at him. "She must really trust you. Tell me, how did you meet her?"

"Shaggy and Scooby met her when she was being chased by this manic dog, and brought her to our apartment complex. We've been trying to help her out ever since- but she hardly told us everything that was going on," Daphne replied. "We only knew what she wrote down, and had to figure out the rest."

"Perhaps you could fill us in more on this dilemma," Velma said.

Hans nodded, but looked around. "We can't talk here. Lets get in my car," he turned to Joey and Kenny. "Neither of you must bring any of this up to anyone else, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Joey said, and he and Kenny left.

The gang and Hans climbed into his vehicle- a large pink van. "Um… nice ride," Freddy commented.

"It's my ex-wives… she makes me drive it," Hans muttered.

Climbing in, they began to drive. "So, why would your ex want access to your lab so badly?" Velma asked him.

"It was more of her boyfriend than herself- the only reason she wanted in there was to try to rebuild 'The Perfect Child'."

"The perfect child?" the gang questioned.

"Yes… it was an experiment we began when Melanie was just a little girl. When she got into an accident, it was still in its prototype state. My wife didn't have faith that Melanie would be able to survive, and demanded that I let her take the experiment home- her bargain was that I could keep Melanie, after I placed the casts on her. (sigh) Unfortunately, someone had broken into the lab and stole the blue-prints to the prototype, which became a problem when his programming was hacked into,"

"What happened?" Freddy asked.

"Well, he was supposed to be a well-mannered young boy, like what my wife wanted… but he began to get destructive, and was easily jealous of other kids. My wife didn't want him anymore and believed I cheated her, and took Melanie back- which only made the prototype even more jealous, and wanted to go as far as killing Melanie. We tried to shut him down after getting the blueprints back, but somehow he managed to gain control of his own program and escaped… we never found him, but sent out a warning to our branches to keep watch for him, giving him the label 'Hater-97'." He shook his head. "But we should stay focused on the matter at hand, and find Melanie,"

*CRASH!*

Something slammed into the van just then, making them swerve. "What the…?!"

"ZOINKS! IT'S THE HOUND FROM HADES!" Shaggy screamed.

Indeed, the deranged dog had returned, and lunged after them. "Shit! Hold on!" Hans floored it and they shot down the street, swerving down an alley but reaching a dead-end.

"Now what do we do?" Daphne cried.

The dog ran forth, snarling and barking. "Everyone get out of the van and climb up that fire escape!" Freddy ordered, and everyone rushed out, climbing up the metallic ladder, and climbing through a broken window into an old warehouse. The dog continued to bark for a few minutes, until it gave up and ran off.

"Like, why can't that dog chase cats like all the other canines?" Shaggy groaned, out of breath.

"Hold up, guys…" Velma whispered, looking over the edge of the catwalk they were on. "Look,"

They looked over… seeing Mrs. Barbire walking along. "What's she doing here?" Daphne questioned.

"Did you find her?" Mrs. Barbire asked.

"Yes… soon we'll have the key to the lab, and have access to every experiment Hans Barbire has and will invent," the masked figure said, stepping out of the shadows, then reached into Melanie's shirt.

From the angle they stood, it looked as if the figure was groping the girl, and Scooby growled softly.

"It's not there!"

"What?!" Mrs. Barbire snarled. "Check her pockets!"

"Woman, I've searched her pockets, her shirt, her shoes… it's not anywhere! One of those damn teenagers must have it!"

Shaggy gulped and hid the key in his shirt.

"Well, come on! You know where they live, lets go get them!" Mrs. Barbire snapped.

"What about the girl?" The masked figure asked.

"Leave her. We'll have the others guard her,"

They left, and the gang rushed down, running toward Melanie. "She's unconscious," Freddy noted as they untied her.

"Are the casts still on her?" Hans asked.

Scooby checked, sliding down the synthetic glove, seeing the cast. "Reah, she still ras them," he replied.

"C'mon, lets get her out of-" Shaggy said.

"HEY! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Came a couple shouts… and the gang turned, seeing two of the gangsters that had attacked Daphne and Melanie the other night!

"RUN!" Daphne cried. Shaggy picked up Melanie, and they made a break for it, running out the back door.

The masked figure ran back in. "What's going on here?!" he snapped.

"Those kids came and took off with the girl, boss!" The first gangster answered.

"Well, after them, you dumbasses!" The two gangsters took off, and the masked figure let out a whistle, calling the dog over. "Get those kids, and make sure they don't escape with their lives!"

Snarling, the dog shot off, while the masked figure ran into the car. "What's going on?!" Mrs. Barbire snapped.

"Those damn kids got Melanie! Hurry up and follow them!"

The gang ran down the street until they reached the Mystery Machine, climbing in and shooting down the road… the dog still in pursuit, as well as the two gangsters on motorcycles, and the ex-wife and masked figure in a black car, speeding after them! "FLOOR IT, FRED!" Shaggy screamed.

"The petal is already on the floor, Shag! I can't go any faster!" Freddy snapped.

"LOOK OUT!" Daphne screamed, pointing ahead at a bunch of signs, reading:

ROAD CLOSED!

BRIDGE OUT AHEAD!

TURN BACK!

WE MEAN IT, MAN! IT'S SUICIDE!

SERIOUSLY, YOU WON'T MAKE IT!

FINE, HAVE IT YOUR WAY! GO AHEAD AND MEET YOUR MAKER!

DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YA!

They shot upward an unfinished bridge and flew overhead, plummeting downward toward the street below, the bad guys accidentally falling with- as well as the manic dog!

"AAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!" Everyone screamed at the very top of their lungs.

*CRASH! SMASH! BOOM!*

In the smoky wreckage, the vehicles were piled upon one another…

While everyone had dived out at the last minute and were hanging on to some construction wires that dangled off the bridge. The wire snapped and they fell on top of one another.

In front of them sat a bum wearing a long tan coat and orange ski-cap, staring at them wide-eyed. "Whoa…" he gasped. "THIS IS THE BEST DRUG-TRIP EVER!"

Melanie came to, seeing her father first. She gasped as he stood up, walking toward her, and she ran up and hugged him. "There there, Melanie, everything is alright," he said, patting her on the back.

The gang stood up… and saw something strange. "Hey… look! These guys are wearing masks!" Shaggy exclaimed, pointing at the two gangsters.

"And so is Mrs. Barbire," Velma said, and they pulled off the masks. Beneath Mrs. Barbire's mask was… unbelievably… the leader of the gangsters. "Who are you?!"

"He's one of the creeps who tried to attack us!" Daphne snapped.

"The name's Hater, bitch!" Hater snarled. "I disguised myself as Melanie's mom so I could break into the mansion and try to get that key and help my dad!"

"Your dad?" The others questioned.

"Take a look, assholes!"

The others turned, seeing Hans was running off with Melanie… except there was a mask of his face on the ground, revealing that he was actually a bald man with a tan mustache. Melanie was struggling, but the man had taken off her casts.

Hater then ran past the gang, whistling at the dog to follow. "Melanie!" The others cried.

Scooby snarled and took off after them. The manic dog turned around and lunged at him, and they got in a brawl- but this time, Scooby was determined to save Melanie, and wrestled the dog down, biting its shoulder and it pulled away…

*Rrrrrrrip!*

All its fur came off! "Ruh?" Scooby questioned, looking and seeing that the dog was also wearing some sort of bionic body-cast. He pulled it off the dog, revealing it to be a collie.

"Hey, the dog was masked, too!" Shaggy gasped.

The dog stared at Scooby for a moment, then looked over, seeing Hater. It snarled and ran after him, and Scooby pursued, both of them catching up to the bad-guys. The collie pinned down Hater, while Scooby attacked the man who had Melanie, freeing her. Hater threw the collie off himself and lunged at Melanie when she got up- only to get kicked in the gonads.

"No… fair…" he squeaked. The other two gangsters ran forth. "Help me out here, guys!"

In response, they both punched him, and the first one pinned him down, opening a slot in his back.

"Hey! What are you morons doing?!"

"Shutting you down for good," the first one replied, sounding older, and yanked out a battery, and Hater went limp.

"Um… thanks, but aren't you supposed to be against us?" Daphne questioned.

"Not quite," The second gangster said, then they both pulled off their masks, revealing themselves to be…

"Mr. and Mrs. Barbire?!" The gang cried out.

"Alright I am TOTALLY confused right now…" Shaggy said.

0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: As we all. WELL, hate to leave you all baffled, but I have to stop here for the day. Next chapter, we get the answers we finally deserve!

Please review. No flames or I'll hit you with a porcelain toilet filled with dynamite.


	13. Mystery Solved?

Here's an update, before I lose inspiration!

**Reviewer Thanks**

**Robot Wolf 26Z: **I get that a lot (I once used that threat in one of my stories too lol), and that reference to 'Between the Lions' made my day!

**Book girl fan: **When I'm not entertaining readers, I'm confusing them- been a while since it's happened, though I will admit I even confused myself :P

**Scoobycool9, Luckycool9, and Steve: ***forehead slap* You guys are going to end up in the infirmary one of these days; Nice deduction, Steve, pretty close… and good luck with that.

**Fanatic97: **Sorry if the chapter sounded trippy (I let Chester write it); and just wait… ;)

**Damonika2009: **Yep, everything will be revealed soon.

Disclaimer: -out of order-

0o0o0o0o0o0

"It's quite a complicated story," Hans said to the gang once the police arrived, arresting the lawyer. "You see, after my wife and I first divorced, she won custody of Melanie,"

"Unfortunately, my new husband- who became my next ex- only married me because he believed I had access to Hans' lab. Once he found out I didn't, he began to abuse Melanie, going as far as breaking her arms and legs unless I found a way to get him blueprints to Hans' newest experiment," Mrs. Barbire answered, sighing heavily. "I met his demands, though I took Melanie to my husband so he could put the casts on her and help her stay protected,"

"But once she was healed, he broke into the lab and stole the blueprints, making his own casts- but he grabbed the wrong prints and made a cast for dogs, specifically the one I made for Sugar when she needed surgery after getting hit by a car," he patted the collie on the head.

"Apparently, the lawyer managed to steal Sugar, and placed the cast on her, as well as this collar that could control her, and even made a suit to disguise her as another dog. He then constructed a series of disguises to help himself break into our manor,"

"But how does Hater fit into all this?" Daphne asked, looking at the dismantled robot.

"Hater… well, Tommy, as we wanted to call him… was my first experiment, before Melanie was born." Hans replied. "We didn't think we'd be able to have kids, so I created him to be like a son for us. Once Melanie came along, however, I decided to shut down the experiment."

"After the accident, I asked my husband to bring him back, so Melanie could have a sibling to be with, and even a guardian in case the lawyer ever came around…" Mrs. Barbire answered.

"But he managed to hack into Hater's system, so that rather than protecting Melanie, he'd try to kill her." Velma put in, then turned to the lawyer. "But he turned on you, didn't he? He didn't want to help you out, because he still wanted to be with his 'parents', thus the reason why he wanted to get rid of Melanie- with her out of the picture, he'd be their only child."

"Yeah, the robotic brat went as far as telling the couple about my scheme, and got into my disguises." The lawyer, Arthur, sneered.

"I was thankful at first, until I found out Hater's true intentions, and threatened to shut him down… and that's when he finally went berserk." Hans sighed. "He then decided to go after Melanie himself, out of revenge. I told my wife about it, and we used a pair of Arthur's disguises to pose as gangsters and join him, until we could get close enough to shut him down."

"The night we 'jumped' you two, we were hoping to take him down…" Mrs. Barbire said to Daphne. "But Melanie put up such a fight, we never found an opportunity!"

"…And while you were posing as gangsters, Hater and Arthur were posing as the two of you!" Velma added.

"And the butler," Freddy put in.

"Indeed, they did to help break into the manor and search for the key, while we were looking for Melanie," Hans said. "I had told Joey and Kenny about the situation too, asking them to keep an eye out, but not to say a word about it. Arthur must have disguised himself as me and met up with them, learning about where Melanie could be, and trained the dog to search for her,"

"How did Melanie get separated from you, anyway?" Daphne asked.

"She was kidnapped… we don't know by who, though." Mrs. Barbire answered, and everyone turned to the lawyer.

"Don't look at me! I didn't know she was missing! I learned about her disappearance a month ago, and tried to hunt her down and use her for ransom!" Arthur sneered… then cringed. "Er, did I say that out loud?"

"And to think I hired you as my lawyer…"

Melanie grabbed Shaggy and pointed over at the mysterious masked figure…

…seeing the bum from earlier rifling through his pockets. "Um… oh, look! I found an ID on him!" the bum said, innocently.

Freddy took off the man's mask, seeing it was a teenage boy with dark hair and pale skin. "…Some kid we've never met before?!" the whole gang questioned.

Melanie grabbed the wallet from the bum, holding up the boy's ID. "It says his name's Randy Peterson," Freddy noted, then turned to Melanie. "Do you know him?"

She nodded, grabbing a notepad from the officers and began to write out an explanation: _'He worked as an apprentice for my dad. I met him months ago, and he said he knew my dad and that he'd take me to visit him. But he only ended up…' _ she paused, then wrote in smaller letters, keeping her hands covered over the pad and showing it secretly to the gang, and they all gasped, appalled.

"SICKO!" Daphne shouted, slapping the boy, who awoke.

"Ow! What happened?!" he cried.

"So… a lawyer wanted to kidnap Melanie for ransom, a robot wanted to kill her, and some kid we don't know wanted to basically own her?!" Shaggy said, rubbing his head. "Zoinks, I need an aspirin…"

"Oh, I could give you one!" The bum said, looking through his pockets. "Lets see… um, nope, that's not an aspirin… nope, that's not one either… that's DEFINITELY not aspirin… neither is- wait, how did Pamprin© get in my pocket?"

"Yeah, and one out of the three of us would have succeeded if it wasn't for you meddling kids, and that dumb dog!" Arthur shouted, as the police loaded him and the other kid into the car.

"We're so glad to have you back, Melanie," Mrs. Barbire said, holding her daughter tightly, with her husband.

"And from now on, we'll both be there for you," Hans added.

"R'awwww…" Scooby said, sniffling. The collie, Sugar, handed him a tissue. "Rank rou,"

"*sniffle* This is the greatest moment I've ever seen, since the opening night of Breaking Dawn: Part Two," the bum said.

"Uh, by the way man… who are you?" Shaggy asked the bum, arching an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you… if you give me all your change!" the bum held up a Styrofoam cup, shaking it rapidly. "C'mon, help a guy out!"

Shaggy blinked. "Never mind."

The bum glared, then kicked Shaggy 'somewhere you don't want to know', stole his wallet, and took off-

*BAM!*

…until Melanie punched him in the face and took the wallet back. "Why must the innocent always suffer…?" the bum moaned.

Melanie handed Shaggy his wallet. "Like, thanks," he said, then took out the key. "Here, you'd better take this back, too."

She took the key, then gave him a peck on the cheek, making him blush. She then walked over to her parents, stopping in front of Scooby, and hugged him tightly… and for the first time in ages, finally spoke. "Thank you," she said.

"She spoke!" Daphne exclaimed.

"I guess she's finally gotten over her trauma and can trust us," Velma added.

"We can't thank you kids enough," Hans said. "Is there anything we can do to show our gratitude?"

Freddy looked over at his wrecked van. "Well…" he said.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A couple weeks later, Freddy was cruising in the van once again- fully repaired with a new paint job, and built with a type of steel Hans had invented that was guaranteed not to dent. He pulled up to the apartment complex, honking the horn, and the rest of the gang walked out and climbed in. "Looks like the Mystery Machine is back in business." Velma commented.

"And hopefully it'll stay that way- as long as I'm the only one driving it," Freddy replied, giving Shaggy a look.

"Aw, but I wanted to drive it." Daphne joked.

They drove down the road, passing the manor, seeing Melanie playing fetch with Sugar. They honked and she waved excitedly.

Scooby smiled, happy that she was finally out of harm's way- no maniacs, robots, or killer dogs chasing after her- and continued to wave at her until the manor was out of sight. They drove passed an alley just then… and for a second, Scooby could have sworn he saw Hater standing there, glaring at them, but vanished once a different car drove past.

"Scooby-dooby… doo?" Scooby said with a gulp.

**The End**

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N: And there we go. Thought I'd throw in a touch of suspense at the end for effect. But the mystery is solved, Melanie is safe, and Chester A. Bum got a cameo :D

Please review, but don't flame


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